Balkan.Perspectives Podcast #1: Kosovo: Youth Movement and Dealing with the Past

The new edition of the Balkan.Perspectives podcast of forumZFD tackles the anti-war movements, peace initiatives, and the impact of the recent past in Kosovo and other former Yugoslavia countries after the bloody breakup of the communist federation.

Marigona Shabiu the executive director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) in Kosovo. She elucidates how the new generation by sticking to the truth and justice can help to lay down the burden of the past. In this crucial process for the future of the region, national stakeholders show a lack of commitment to truly engage with the legacies of the past.

Transitional justice processes have produced few results not only in Kosovo but in other former Yugoslavia territories, in general, where nationalism, ethnic divisions, and hatred remain deeply rooted. In the meantime, people especially victims are waiting for justice and struggling to move on. Marigona Shabiu pointed out that there is no denying the fact that this region confronts increasing tensions while many still ask if the new generation will be able to come to terms with a painful past and allow it defines the future?